The whooshing sound we heard upon waking up Wednesday morning let us know the westerlies our hut mates had said were coming had actually arrived. It seems like every New Zealander has a high understanding of weather patterns, a product of the outdoor education which they all receive in school and a necessity in a country where the weather can change on a dime. I learned this for myself after heading to the bathroom in windy and rainy conditions only to come out to no rain and a rainbow overhead. We decided to seize this respite from the storm and start our descent down, hoping to avoid the worst of the gale force winds and rains (but resigned to the fact that this may be a miserable hike!). As rach and I scampered carefully over the slippery rocks the 2 Dutch girls caught up and asked if they could tramp thru the snow sections with us. I was a bit surprised that anyone would be afraid of the snow, but I guess if you didn't grow up around it it could be a bit daunting. Either way, that blind fearlessness stoked me on, so when we were faced with the 1st steep section I suggested we toboggan down instead of wasting energy walking. There were already tracks there and that was enough to convince me it would be fine, despite the large rocks at the bottom of the path. It wasn't until I sat down and immediately began zipping down the mt that a smidgen of doubt crept in. But that was quickly pushed aside by the excitement and adrenaline from this extreme sledding. I may not be much of a skier or snowboarder, but I consider myself a pretty hard-core sledder, so this was right up my alley!!
-Lake Pukaki so blueeeeeeee
-napping!
-Arrowtown
-Cinema Paradiso
-Eating at Kaiwanakai
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